iPhone 5 Lightning Adapter Could Be Bad News for High-End Docks

The new adapter might not be enough for fancier docks on the market. Photo: Apple

After nearly a decade of connecting iPods, iPhones and iPads to computers and third-party docks, the 30-pin was replaced Wednesday by the more stylishly named Lightning connector. Now, hardware vendors are scrambling to bring new devices to market with Lightning support while consumers are concerned that their collected docks are now obsolete.

The 30-pin-to-Lightning evolution will delight hardware vendors as they gear up to sell new devices for the holiday season. But it could annoy consumers who are rightly unsure if their old 30-pin iPhone alarm clocks will work with the new iPhone, even with $30 Lightning adapters.

The core issue is the lack of iPod-out support on the Lightning adapters. Kyle Wiens of iFixit told Wired that he believes docks that rely on the iPod-out protocol to display track information are at the highest risk. “My gut feeling: the most expensive accessories will be the ones that won’t work,” he said.

Fortunately, when it comes to simply playing music, everyone seems to be safe, since the adapter supports analog audio out. (The built-in digital-to-analog converter is probably a big reason behind the hefty price tag.) Most docks support USB digital audio and the analog audio protocol, so the new iPhone 5 with an adapter will be able to pump out the Skrillex jams even on older speaker docks.

Griffin Technology President Mark Rowan told Wired that most of its products already use the USB digital audio protocol. Ezra S. Ashkenazi, President & CEO of iHome said via e-mail that, “Apple’s Lightning to 30-pin adapter will ensure audio and charging compatibility with our current docking accessories.”

One company that hasn’t had to worry about the hardware change is Logitech. It’s moved away from physical dock connections and now focuses on AirPlay and Bluetooth audio streaming. “We’ve really been focusing on wireless audio,” said Rory Dooley, senior vice president of music for Logitech. “That’s the key play for us in the music space.”

Logitech’s approach not only protects the company and its customers from hardware changes like the new Lightning connection, it also means Logitech products appeal to consumers with non-Apple smartphones. “It just makes sense,” Dooley said. “You’re not experiencing this problem with hardware changes where you have incompatibilities. And you become more hardware agnostic to the entire ecosystem.”

Ashkenazi says iHome is aiming for first quarter of 2013 to have docks with the new connection in stores. And Rowan is holding out hope for something even sooner. “I would expect you’ll see some stuff coming out this holiday season,” he said.

If history repeats itself, you should be able to squeeze a good 10 years out of those.